For immediate release
March 18, 2022
Contact: Scott Tillman, U.S. Term Limits
Phone: (321) 345-7455
stillman@termlimits.com
Term Limits on Congress Convention Resolution Filed in Hawaii
Washington, D.C. — The Hawaii House of Representatives has filed a resolution applying for a convention to propose a congressional term limits amendment. House Resolution 97 (HR97) is sponsored by Representative Sam Kong, a Democratic Party member representing district 33.
The President of U.S. Term Limits, Philip Blumel commended the Kong for working on such an important issue. Blumel said that “The people of Hawaii are lucky to have public servants who see what is going on in Washington, D.C. and are willing to take action to fix it. Through Article V of the U.S. Constitution legislators can restore balance between states and the federal government as our Founders intended.”
By using Article V of the U.S. Constitution, 34 state legislatures can call a convention to propose a congressional term limits amendment. The Term Limits Convention initiative is being spearheaded by the nonpartisan, grassroots nonprofit advocacy group U.S. Term Limits.
Blumel also noted the 82% nationwide popularity of congressional term limits, which receive 87% support from Republicans, 75% support from independents and 83% support from Democrats, according to the most recent national poll by Scott Rasmussen.
In the 1990s, U.S. Term Limits assisted in successful campaigns to term limit 23 states’ congressional delegations by individual ballot measures. The Supreme Court ruled in the 1995 case U.S. Term Limits v. Thornton that these state measures were unconstitutional, and that congressional term limits can only be imposed by constitutional amendment.
If HR97 passes in the house and HCR101 passes in the senate this session, Hawaii will be at the forefront of passing the application for an Article V resolution for the exclusive purpose of proposing term limits on the U.S. Congress. Once the states apply for the convention and approve the term limits amendment, it must be ratified by 38 states to become part of the U.S. Constitution.
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US Term Limits is the largest grassroots advocacy group focused solely on implementing term limits at all levels of government, but particularly on the U.S. Congress. Find out more at termlimits.org.